


Hurricane

by GaryTheFish



Series: Hope is a Four Letter Word [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7229611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaryTheFish/pseuds/GaryTheFish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki reflects, Rhodes is a good bro, and Tony has some thoughts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hurricane

**Author's Note:**

> Fix me, or conflict me  
> I'll take anything  
> Fix me, or just conflict me  
> Cause I'll take anything
> 
> We are a hurricane  
> Drop our anchors in a storm

_Grief is a strange thing. He has faced it before; a thousand years of living has made it inevitable. He remembers as a child, searching through the books that Frigga has loaned him of the other realms, how he marveled at the way they lived their lives, flaring like a match in the darkness before disappearing without a trace. The books were old, the histories not updated since Odin had closed the path to Midgard after Laufey’s incursion, and Loki wondered how the mortals managed how they had to live, an endless cycle of greeting and leavetaking, joy and mourning, smashed into a hairsbreadth of time. The boy had thought that perhaps their grief, their love, their happiness was as small as their fragile bodies, kept simple to match their lesser state, but the man now knows how wrong he was. The mortals put their gods to shame. Their pain, their sorrow, their loyalty, their love - they burn with a fire that he has never seen, searing and almost too bright to stand._

_He is biased now, perhaps, the objectivity on which he prided himself through the long centuries obliterated along with his magic and longevity. His data set is poor, to be honest, too small to justify any results as valid._

_And yet._

_He has learned to read her grief. He has learned to see it coming, for the most part, studying her like the ocean tides. There are times that he sees the signs long before she can, and he is able to pull her to higher ground before there is any danger with a story, a touch, a kiss, or a joke. Other times, he is able to catch her just before she goes under. He holds her through the storm, breathless in the face of her anger and sorrow. There are other times, too, the ones where her grief drags them both beneath the waves without warning, and Loki does not hide his own tears as he mourns for her, for her brother, and perhaps for himself, robbed of the chance to know the man as she did, robbed of a mentor, a friend, an anchor in a world he still does not entirely understand. In those moments, they cling together like children, a raft of limbs and vessels and sorrow that holds together just long enough to ride out the worst of the hurricane._

_Those days are the hardest. Those days are the reason they have never bothered with two hotel rooms, the reason they spent four and a half days in New Orleans instead of the two they had originally planned, and Loki does not regret a single moment._

***

A light was beeping on Loki’s phone when they returned to the car, and he picked it up. A missed call from Stark, no message. He waited until they were back on the interstate then called him back, the ring flowing from the speakers.

“Tony Stark’s phone. How may I help you?” The voice was unfamiliar, and there was a cacophony of noise in the background that made it difficult to hear.

“I was hoping to talk to Stark, actually,” Loki said. “Is he available?”

“Oh! Loki, right? Sorry. Tony’s phone’s an absolute wreck when it comes to actually identifying anyone. I think he’s genetically incapable of calling people by their given names. I’m Rhodey. James Rhodes. Friend of Tony’s, and he’s a little… uh, indisposed right now.” A louder crash, followed by some muffled swearing and what sounded like a window breaking. “Having a little trouble with the Mark-” his voice became quieter for a moment as he spoke to someone in the room. There was an answering yell, and Rhodes came back on the line with a chuckle. “Mark Thirteen. Told the dude to skip that number, but he said superstition was unscientific and meant for the weak and went ahead with it anyway. Guess we see who’s laughing _now_.”

“Just returning his call,” Loki told him with a slight laugh. “Ask him to call us once he’s freed himself.”

“Will do,” Rhodes responded over a distant drilling noise. “Might be a while, but I’ll make sure he gets the message.”

***

It was late in the afternoon by the time the phone rang again, and Aeslin pushed the button on the steering wheel and answered. Stark wasted no time.

“One unit or two?”

She glanced over at Loki, who shook his head. “Say again?” Loki asked.

“I’m getting things sorted on our end, and we’re trying to figure out living arrangements. I’ve got tons of employee housing around here, for contractors and visitors and board members and whatnot, so we’re going to set you up with an apartment. Perma-temporary housing. I had it almost figured out, but then Pepper mentioned that I might not want to ass _ume_ anything, so I’m calling to ask if you want one apiece or if you want to share because I can in fact be sensitive and am a _total_ team player, dammit. No wrong answer.”

“Let us talk about it,” Aeslin told him.

“Take your time,” Stark replied. “I’ll call back in ten minutes.”

_"Well,” she says, “secret ballot? Or just take a vote?”_

_He laughs. “Let’s see. We’ve got a walking disaster and a god who only recently remembered that he survived torture for a year before he managed to get himself banished to the ash heap of the cosmos. Neither one of us has any business being alone. And putting even that aside, how well do you think we’ll get along by ourselves? I mean, you’ll probably do fine, eventually, but I for one would starve to death within a week, provided I didn’t set myself on fire while trying to wash my socks.”_

_He sees the realization hit her, and a laugh falls merrily from her lips. “Oh my hell,” she says after a moment. “You can’t cook.”_

_“I’m a_ **_prince_** _, love,” he says, feigning hurt. “I hunt. Kill things. Clean them. Skin them. Gut them. Cook them over a fire if I have to. Drop me in the woods, and I’m all right, but the rest? Largely a mystery. Ring the bell, servant appears, tell them what you want and after a moment, there’s whatever you asked for, neat as you please on your favorite plate. Living at SHIELD didn’t help; it wasn’t much different, really.” He gives her a grin and a lascivious wink. “I’m a fast learner, though. Especially given the right motivation.”_

_“You’re a beast. You’re also assuming I know enough to teach you.”_

_That earns a laugh. “Don’t tell me you’re as bad off as I am.”_

_“No,” she answers. “Besides, it’s just like riding a bike. Right?”_

_“I’ll have to take your word on that.”_

Tony made it most of eight minutes, and Loki was surprised he’d managed that long. Aeslin answered again.

“So what’s it gonna be, my itty bitty kickass committee?”

“One apartment,” she said, “two bedrooms, if you would.”

“Give me a week or two,” replied Tony. “I’ve still got to go in and get rid of all the tech.”

Loki’s eyebrow went up. “Tech?”

“Security cameras, that sort of thing. All the housing is equipped with them for practical purposes. Insurance, fraud, you know the drill. _How_ ever, since when Dr. Kindle left her previous position, she was _quite_ insistent that there be no surveillance on her personal life, I figured that should carry over to her new situation, as well. It’s only polite. Rhodey and I will spend a delightful afternoon bonding while we gut one of the units and get it fixed up for the two of you.”

There was faint relief in her smile. “Thank you.”

“So one unit. Three bedrooms.”

“Two,” she told him automatically.

“I’ll make it three,” Stark responded. “You can always use an office. Studio. Whatever. North facing, right?”

There was a palpable surprise on her face, but her voice was calm. “I work in pencil,” she said. “It doesn’t matter that much. It’s not really necessary, Tony.”

“And that,” Stark replied with a grin Loki could almost hear, “is the beauty of it all. See you in a few weeks.”

**Author's Note:**

> And here's today's random rambling. Enjoy the fruits of my crazy times! :)
> 
> Feedcrack appreciated! :D
> 
> Lyric and title from "Hurricane", because my!Loki is more than occasionally a Panic! at the Disco.
> 
> Fight me.


End file.
